Weekend Retreat - Lepakshi Temple - 130 km from Bengaluru

It was a Saturday morning, which is generally the happiest day of a monotonous work life. I was too lazy to get out of my bed but having waited for about a month for the sun's anger to calm down, it was high time, I had to do some activity to burn some calories and ofcourse refresh myself. It was the time to resume my weekend trips again. The Travel book 'Weekend escapes from bangalore' seemed to interest me along with internet data to explore Bangalore and its surrounds on my bike.This time it was Leepakshi Temple, 130 km from Bangalore . 

Lepakshi was built during Vijayanagar empire during 15 century A.D by the treasurer of the Empire. It is a It is located in Karnataka - Andhrapradesh border. It can be reached via two routes, one is the Chickbellapur and Doddabellapur   passing through Hindpur or the Bengaluru - Hyderabad NH7 highway route. The routes could be chosen based on your riding interest, the surroundings you want to explore, top speed you want to achieve  and the number of breaks you are planning to take.To avoid this confusion and to explore the journey in the best possible way, I chose to do a looping route ie. the Doddabellapur route while going and the NH7 highway while returning. This turned out to be a worthy decision when I rode through these.  

     

Karnataka Tourism Map which I passed by, indicating he two routes to Lepakshi from Bangalore and other surrounding sight seeing places. 

The mesmarizingly blossomed Gulmohar trees on the Doddabellapur route

The Doddabellapur route consists of a narrow road (6m) flanked by Gulmohar  trees, passing through multiple satellite towns and small hillocks. One can take pit stops in each of the towns/villages to either freshen up in the public toilets or to explore the street food on carts (Poori, Idly,wada and Pulav) . The smaller road width of the road along with buses and locals vehicles, the interactive surrounding , the people and the cattle, brings down the riding speed to 60-70kmph maximum limit. However it is worth it is you want to enjoy the interactive ride.

   

            Interactions with passerbys       Garma garam Pooris served for breakfast 

While passing through the smaller town, one encounters beautiful sights like these, I can imagine how this sight could be during the monsoons.

                      

The entrance seemed too colourful and commercialized.... I was just hoping the temple should not turn out to be of same kind.

However as I approached the temple complex, a 6m high historical wall with an entrance Gopuram welcomed me to the to the majestic era of Vijayanagara Empire

    

    

The temple is surrounded by small hillocks with temple shrines and the Lepakshi village. The temples are positioned on these hillocks with a rocky base. 

Once entered, the temple complex welcomes you with an outer periphery of colonnaded structure and Mantappas

The Entrance Gateway of the Temple complex off centered from the main Temple Complex...  

The most amazing feature is the technique of construction where the whole temple is built on the existing contoured rock outcrop and the plinths and roofs have been leveled accordingly (as seen in the pic).

The complex consists various mantappas, with the absence of roof structures and Gopurams for a few. 

The 6 headed snake carved in a single rock with an added plinth (1.3m high)  

 The columns of the Rangamantappa in the main temple structure, exhibited amazing work of art, history and details. The shot on the top left was an attempt to portray the mural as a painting. The Rangamantappa gets its name with a series of figures representing the performers of dance and music. 

Each column has been carved out into different designs and figures

The temple being the living and functional one, it attracts tourists and disciples throughout the year, with the main season being the time of Shivaratri. The incredible people soon turned out to be the subject of interest who also contributed to the proportions and scale of the temple.  

The technology is advancing and so are the kids. I had not realized until i witnessed this. The kid to the extreme right asked me to take a picture of him and his friends. Hethenstarted following me around the temple complex asking me several questions, with the first one being, if I was a foreigner (?) After a while he gave me his dad's full name and asked me to send these pics through FACEBOOK....? !...Things have really advanced.

The columns serve as most interesting elements as each on talks its own story. The one towards the top left has a woman's figure serving her man. Hence inclusion of women sitting adjacent to it, in the frame, helped to build a coherence with the past and the present. The picture in the top right reminded me of the Mummies of Egypt.

Watch carefully in the bottom of the pic. Apparently it is Lord Hanuman's foot impression and it has certain history attached to it.

I thought I would have tough time with interactions with locals, but for my good luck, it turned out that most of the people staying around the temple are Brahmins and manage to speak Kannada and Hindi.

In conclusion, Lepakshi serves as a great destination for a one day trip, especially for bikers. One can spend an entire day (4-5 hrs) is s/he wants to experiment his skills of Photography and sketching. Mansoons and winters would be the best time to visit. Also try exploring the village around which is famous for its Crafts. This marks as yet another destination achieved on my  bike touring map. I am hoping to visit this place very soon, once the monsoons start. 

A TRIBUTE TO MY GURU

Bharata Natyam comes from the words Bhava (Expression), Raga (Music), Tala (Rhythm) and Natya (Classic Indian Musical Theatre). Today, it is one of the most popular and widely performed dance styles and is practiced by many dancers all over the world.The Encyclopædia Britannica states that Bharata Natyam is Sanskrit for Bharata’s dancing.

Source : Wikipedia

My first encounter with K.Padmakumar commonly called as 'Pappan sir' was at 'Darpan Arts Academy' when i attended the kalaripayattu workshop.Since then he has been A Respectable Guru and a Dearest friend to me.

This was a BharataNatyam performance presented at 'Natarani' by Pappan Sir.He mentioned that it was really hard to shift from a Kalari and a contemporary form to this form of dance.Yet he never gave up.

The compilation of pictures below is an attempt to freeze the split second of his movements and capture the emotions contained within.

It all started from praying to the mother earth and the stage.

The music and vocal legends.

A salute to the musicians

Getting into the character

Light taking its priority along with the posture.

A bright movement followed by the dark element - The Shadow

A blend of Light ,Shadow and Grace.

When emotion dominates the posture.

The Very well known ' Nataraja ' Posture

One of my Favourites

He was calm and moved softly.Same did the Camera.

Lovely and Joyful.

A tribute to Nataraja.

Addressing the larger aspect of space.

Expression Quotient.

He finally concluded his performance with Namaskaram.

Inspiring the little ones.

Amma - A true inspiration and Guru to Sir in every respect.

She was in Tears when sir invited her on stage.

A Salute by the Legend to his Great master.This was truly a moment of inspiration.

The Audience which made the show a great success.

My salute to mother earth and my guru.My sincere thanks to all the people who have appreciated this attempt - K.padhmakumar.

K.padmakumar is a classical dancer,performer and a teacher working at Darpan arts academy.He has been mastering various dance forms like Bharata Natyam,folk dance,rope dance and kalaripayattu (martial art).

Thank you one and all

S K E T C H I N G - When skill turns into passion

Sketching isn't about drawing a likeness in a portrait or drawing things accurately, sketching is about being loose and bold and not worrying about making mistakes, letting your real feelings come out.

Website -Learn how to sketch

A sketch showing the rare view of Charminar - Hyderabad

Sketching for me has always been a great medium to let my thoughts flow down

into my sketch book.

The advantage of sketching as against Photography is , you can add your imagination and abstractness into the entire scene.One can add people into the streets or reduce the complexity of building facade details etc.

Following are some of my personal favourites.Hope this could motivate others to be a part of my 'Sketchy world'

Sarkar Wada - Nasik

The arch in the fore ground sets as a frame for the entire sketch

Jama masjid - Champaner - Gujrat

I used a grey felt pen to sketch the initial strokes and then highlighted important elements with a black tone.This adds a depth to the sketch.

A Wada at Old city- Pune

Its the shadows and the Stone texture on the walls which adds a lot of depth to the sketch

A Chowk at Raipur street - Old city - Ahmedabad

A lot of quick strokes were used here as i was sitting on the pavement of the street and had people surrounding me.So finished the frame work and basic detailing on spot and added the colours and texture later.

A street at Jaisalmer - Rajasthan

The Foreground is kept lighter here to make the back ground look heavier.It took quite a long time to add details into the sketch.But it was worth it at the end.

Abhaneri Kund - Gujrat

It is still in my hit list of places to be visited.Its one of the best Kunds(stepped wells) i have ever seen.

This was sketched from a picture in my travel guide book.

My 1st PORTRAIT - A Rajasthani villager.

I am always into shooting portraits explaining the social life of people.So thought will try sketching one. Fortunately it came up pretty good.But yet to improve in this section.

Villa Kirana - Sayana - Malaysia

I used my Fountain pen to create bold strokes in this sketch.So couldnt use loose strokes as i do with a felt pen.Yet another style to learn.The source was from a magazine.

A view from office window.

A view from my office window which no longer exits as there is a 10 storey building comming up there.The technique used here is stippling.It took me only 4 days to finish this and its definitely one of my favourites.

Rani nu Hajiro - Manik Chowk - Ahmedabad

Loose and quick strokes have been used here to created a sense of water colour effect.This technique could be used for analytical sketches.

Hatheesingh Jain Temple - Old city - Ahmedabad

Jain temples are known for their intricate stone carved details.Hence this is when you have to be quite observant to pick up right set of details to add into your sketch.

Shah Aalam mosque - Geeta Mandir area - Ahmedabad

Its during this sketch, i realized that bold strokes have started becoming my personal style of sketching.And ofcourse the blue strokes behind add a lot of elegance for the sketch.

Mr.Finance minister

Its was time when i was bugged reading the photography magazine, an idea triggered into head to Sketch a portrait.Wanted to experiment the wrinkles and his Hair.

Dada Hari ni wow - Stepped well - Ahmedabad

This was a view looking up into the sky from below.This well have severall floors which open up as balconies forming the well.

Gandi Ashram - By Ar. Charles Correa - Ahmedabad

A collage of sketches explaining the architecture of the building.This technique could be used for Case studies.

The Frustrated Tree

Patience is one of the greatest factors which govern the sketching process.I was experimenting on sketching a tree with reference to a tutorial on net.but ended up loosing patience when i started doing the canopy part.And hence i named it as above.

Sarkej Rouza - Ahmedabad

This was sketched in summer when their was no water in the pond.Otherwise the reflection of the entire building is casted in the water.The strokes were quite bold here again along with dark patch of black to create depth.

Note:It depends upon how much time you have onspot and how fast you can sketch.If i am falling short of time then I usually shoot pictures in detail on site and get back and refer the pictures for sketching.But i would still prefer sketching on spot as one can understand the aspects of composition and perspective of the elements.

SO PICK UP YOUR SKETCH BOOK AND GET GOING